WIDOWS OF SLAIN MARINES STILL
AWAIT ANSWERS

Families of 2 killed in Bastion attack upset probe took so long

On the one-year anniversary of an insurgent attack on Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, that killed two Marines and destroyed a fleet of Harrier jets, the U.S. military is wrapping up its investigation into the security breach and preparing to share the results with families of the dead.

Danielle Atwell, one of the widows of the two Yuma Marines killed in action with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward), was told this week the investigation is finished and she would be informed of the findings soon. She and Donnella Raible, the other widow, are frustrated at how long it has taken to investigate the Sept. 14, 2012, attack and that no one has been held accountable.

The promotion and third star of a former Camp Pendleton general hangs on the outcome, as well as the careers of other senior military officials who were responsible for base security when insurgents infiltrated NATO’s regional headquarters.

The investigation by U.S. Central Command focused on whether commanders were negligent because 15 heavily armed Taliban fighters were able to penetrate the base, in what was their most brazen attack of the war. Amid the drawdown of forces, security cutbacks had caused guard towers to be manned in some cases by nothing more than target dummies or poorly trained Tongan troops who often napped on duty, several senior military sources told U-T San Diego.

Insurgents dressed in outdated U.S. Army uniforms blasted through the security perimeter and attacked the airfield with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Six AV-8B Harriers were destroyed and two heavily damaged, a loss of more than $200 million and the worst hit on U.S. air power since the Vietnam War.

Maj. Gen. Charles “Mark” Gurganus was in charge of the base complex, which includes Camp Leatherneck and Camp Shorabak and more than 10,000 troops and contractors.

Gurganus finished his yearlong tour in the spring as commanding general of NATO’s southwestern regional command, for the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. When he returned to the jurisdiction of U.S. commanders, Central Command conducted a preliminary review.

Gen. James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps, requested a full-scale investigation, telling Central Command in a letter that “important questions remained unanswered” and he wanted to “determine accountability of the senior Marines involved,” a Pentagon official confirmed.

Gurganus had been nominated in March for assignment as chief of Marine Corps staff, essentially the No. 3 position in the Corps. His promotion and move to the Pentagon has been on hold pending investigation results.

Gurganus is no longer assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and could not be reached for comment, a spokesman at Camp Pendleton said Friday.

The head of Central Command, Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, ordered the probe on May 22. Officially, “the investigation is not yet complete as of today,” Oscar P. Seára, a spokesman for the Tampa-based command, said Friday.

Lt. Col. Christopher Raible, 40, of Huntingdon, Pa., was killed by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade while leading the counterattack. Raible was commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 211, the AV-8B Harrier unit deployed to Camp Bastion. He was nominated for a Silver Star, the nation’s third highest medal for valor in combat.